Australia's netballers are turning their backs on the sport in search of viable careers
Netball has benefited from being the premier women's sport in Australia for some time. It was one of the first to have a national league in the 1980s, and has long since held the mantle of the most played sport for women and girls. The Diamonds are one of the most accomplished and trophy-laden teams this country has ever produced. But with the rise of elite women's leagues in other sports, athletes are looking elsewhere for opportunities rather than spending years waiting on the Super Netball sidelines.
Former Melbourne Mavericks player Olivia Lewis recently recalled an interaction with a 13-year-old who felt she was already at this crossroads. Despite enjoying netball more, the young girl had decided to focus on Australian rules, enticed by the larger list sizes of the AFLW. Then, last week, Lewis herself announced she was leaving netball to pursue AFLW.
'I definitely reflected on the question that if AFLW was around when I was 14, 15, would I have still pursued netball?' she says. 'Obviously [I'm] very grateful with how everything in my life has turned out, but I do think it's great that young athletes have so many options now as far as the ability to play women's sport.'
Earning the title of being the 'world's premier elite netball competition', as the Super Netball is marketed, means attracting global talent. International stars like Jamaica's Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard and England's Helen Housby ply their trade here. However, with only about 65 contracted positions available after excluding international players, the domestic battle for spots is fierce. And without the luxury of the extended squads that other sports have, injury rather than performance is the primary reason for changes to the matchday squad in Super Netball.
There have been some attempts to improve the situation. In 2024, the optional '11th player' was introduced, a six-month minimum-salary position designed to bolster pathway progression for junior Australian players. Its role was expanded in 2025 to allow that player to be promoted to the matchday squad without requiring a contracted player to be injured.
The 11th player position may be a step in the right direction, but even for full-time players the financial situation remains tricky. The minimum pay for an athlete in the contracted 10 will rise to $46,600 by the end of the current collective bargaining agreement, and to $23,300 for the 11th players. Clubs can also have three additional 'training partners', with the minimum pay in 2025 just $5,665. The lowest tier AFLW contracts are worth $67,337 in 2025.
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So, teenagers who excel at multiple sports face a dilema: attempt to enter a system that can guarantee positions, financially agreeable contracts and development, or hold out for the elusive Super Netball contract that may be several years down the track?
Poppy Scholz, a first-year AFLW player this season with Carlton and daughter of Australian Diamonds legend Peta Scholz, says netball requires a huge commitment required with no financial security, which makes it especially difficult for players who need to relocate to pursue their dream.
'If you want to be a training partner in Melbourne, you have to work and play netball seven times a week in the preseason,' she says. 'It's not enough money to live on. Whereas in football, they're so well supported by the AFL, so I can move to Melbourne, live out of home and be financially set up.'
The AFLW draft provides a favourable model, Scholz says, whereby in a singular day all emerging talent know whether or not they will be picked up in the football system for the year ahead. This was experienced firsthand by Georgie Cleaver, a second-year West Coast Eagles player and former training partner of the West Coast Fever. 'With footy, when you turn 18, if you're in the best 50 footballers in Australia, you're going to get drafted,' Cleaver says. 'Whereas in netball, at 18, 19, 20, you're not guaranteed a spot at all.'
It is hard to break into the system after years on the periphery, but it's not impossible. Sharni Lambden had spent eight years as a training partner across the now defunct Collingwood Magpies and the Melbourne Vixens with just a single Super Netball appearance in 2022, when in 2024, due to an injury to Vixens player Kate Eddey, she got the break she had been waiting for. By the end of that year, she had signed the long-sought-after contract with the NSW Swifts.
The reality is that many capable players can't wait that long. They have had languishing careers waiting in the wings, or have been forced to give up their sport to pursue financial stability. With trade season now officially open, the dreams for many on the precipice of Super Netball greatness hang in the balance.
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